Leave it to The CW to screw up a show before they even film it.

The TV Addict got ahold of the casting breakdowns for the upcoming Arrow series which will be based on the DC Comics character of Green Arrow.  From these listings its pretty obvious that just like the network did with Smallville the comics background doesn’t matter.

Oliver Queen
A 27 year old reformed bad boy, who after having spent five years shipwrecked on a tiny, brutally dangerous island in the South China Sea returns to town a different man. Or to be more specific, a tortured, thoughtful master of the bow with a ferocious determination to make a difference.

Dinah “Laurel” Lance
28 years old, smart sexy, Laurel is a legal aid attorney determined to use her life as a one-woman war against the 1% following the death of her younger sister Sara. A sister, who as luck would have it, just so happened to have died aboard Oliver’s yacht.

Tommy Merlyn
28 years old and devil-smooth, Tommy is a trustafarian like Oliver, a spectacularly rich young man whose life revolves around parties, clubs, liquor and lots of anonymous sex. Unlike Oliver, he can’t seem to understand his former best friend’s sudden change of lifestyle and direction.

Moira Queen
48 years old, a beautiful woman, Oliver’s mother Moira is a very wealthy woman who is not used to being shaken. Having remarried during the five years that former husband Robert and Oliver were both presumed dead, Moira has had free rein over the Queen billions. Not surprisingly, she’s deeply interested in learning whether or not Robert will also return unexpectedly, to ruin her present marriage and go over the books with a fine-tooth comb.

John Diggle
35 years old, African-American, Diggle is really, really big, a former military man who served with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan, and has been a bodyguard for hire for the last four years. Hired by Moira to be Oliver’s chauffeur and protector, Diggle soon finds he is trapped in a battle of wits, as Oliver repeatedly eludes his protection. But in fact, Diggle’s primary conflict is one of loyalty — he has to show that he’s working for Oliver, not Moira, before Oliver will give him a smidgen of trust.

Thea Queen
17 years old (suggest 17-22 years), Oliver’s Lolita-esque sister, Thea was a 12 year old girl when he went on his infamous yachting voyage — but now she’s a celebutante who’s testing the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Thea loved her big brother with all her heart, and is delighted to have him back in her life — but she’s spreading her wings, and is unprepared for Oliver to become the Bad Cop in the family, restricting her access to boys and drugs.

Thea Queen?  Well that’s a totally new character.  And imagine that, a bratty teenage girl character on The CW.  I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!  And Dinah “Laurel” Lance?  You mean the Black Canary, Green Arrow’s long time girlfriend?  Well, no mention of her being her super heroine alter ego, but perhaps they’ll add that down the road?  Who knows, it’s The CW, they could decided this is the “wrong” Dinah Lance or some other crazy idea.

Just once I’d like to see The CW do something faithful to a comic, but I guess that’s just too much to hope for.

[via The TV Addict]

The CW has placed orders for three new pilots for the Fall 2012 season, and not a one of them has a spark of originality to them.

Deadline is reporting that The CW has placed some pilot orders that are a bit surprising.  First up is Arrow, a new take on DC Comics classic Green Arrow character.  I reported that this show was in development last week, and while a pilot is never a guarantee of a show making it to air, this one probably has a good shot at it as they really want to fill the void left by Smallville coming to an end.  As of right now it does not appear that the show has any sort of connection to the character that appeared on that series, but my guess is The CW is seeing this as a chance to have a Batman-like character on the air since they can’t touch that property due to the movies.

Second up is the Carrie Diaries, based on the book of the same name that was written by Candace Bushnel as a prequel to Sex and the City.  This series, should it make it to air, will tell the story of a teenage Carrie Bradshaw and how she formed her opinions on love, sex and men that became so well known in the HBO series.  Currently it is slated to follow her through high school and her first adventures in New York City.

Lastly, just what the world didn’t need, is a remake of the 1980′s TV series Beauty & the Beast.  Apparently this new version will be “loosely” based on the original which translates more than likely to, “The shows have the same name!”  Do yourself a favor, if you’ve never seen the original, locate the DVDs and watch them, you’ll be hooked in a heartbeat.

As with all pilots, none of these are a “sure thing” to go to a series order, but all of them sound pretty definite to me as they will fill very specific holes that The CW needs to work on.

[via Deadline]

It seems that The CW can’t give up on the concept of some TV series based on a DC Comics series.

With the end of Smallville, DC has been fishing around for another TV series they could launched based on a comic series with reports of series being possible developed on The Spectre, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and, most notably, Deadman.  Now the rumor is that the network is taking a look at Green Arrow.

Previously Justin Hartley played the character on Smallville, and while there has been no information if this is the same version of the character, it has been reported that they are not looking into him playing the title character in this series.

Just because The CW is exploring these different series, it doesn’t mean any of them will make it to air, but seeing as Warner Brothers, the parent company of DC Comics, is part owner of the network, it only makes sense that the two would want to get another series on the air, it’s just a matter of finding the right property.

No word has been announced as to when we’ll hear a final decision on any of these.